BEST OF 2012: PART 3 - THE GIGS

WE LOVE A GIG AROUND HERE,
WE SAW 98 THIS YEAR....HERE ARE THE BEST 20. BEST AT TOP, 20TH AT BOTTOM

Band	Venue	Date
Down	Institute	20th October
Anthrax	Oxford Academy	14th March
Orange Goblin	Institute	20th October
Paradise Lost	Slade Rooms	25th April
Testament	Bloodstock	11th August
Mastodon	Brixton	11th Feb
Little Angels	Wulfrun	7th December
Dream Theater	Wembley	10th Feb
Pearl Jam	MCR Arena	20th June
Thin Lizzy	Wolves Civic	27th Jan
Evile	Bloodstock	12th August
Stone Axe	Scruffy Mrphys	6th April
Baroness	Academy 3	9th July
Gojira	Academy 2	26th June
Marillion	Wolves Civic	15th September
Corrosion of Conformity	Bloodstock	12th August
Band Of Friends	Robin 2	16th November
Europe	Academy	21st November
Stone Sour	Civic Hall	14th December
Status Quo	LG Arena	17th December

BEST OF 2012: PART 2 - THE ALBUMS

THE BEST 20 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR,

BEST IS AT THE TOP AND 20TH AT BOTTOM

Album	Band
Orange Goblin	Eulogy For The Damned
Baroness	Yellow And Green
Down	The Purple EP
Paradise Lost	Tragic Idol
Prong	Carved In Stone
Testament	Dark Roots Of The Earth
Europe	Bag Of Bones
Rush	Clockwork Angels
Dragonforce	The Power Within
Gojira	L'Enfant Savauge
Adrenaline Mob	Omerta
Corrosion of Conformity	Corrosion of Conformity
Zico Chain	Devil In Your Heart
Marillion	Sounds That Cant Be Made
UFO	Seven Deadly
Stone Sour	House Of Gold and Bones Part 1
Magnum	On the 13th Day
Sylosis	Monolith
Absolva	Flames Of Justice
Lamb of God	Resolution

BEST OF 2012: part 1. The Songs

THE CHALLENGE: ONE, TWO HOUR PLAYLIST OF THE BEST SONGS OF 2012

Song

Band

Mainline	Hot Water Music
Absolute Zero	Stone Sour
Flames Of Justice	Absolva
Only Foolin	FM
Psychosane	Adrenaline Mob
Die By The Sword	Dragonforce
Learning How To Fly With A Broken Wing	Richie Sambora
Rise Up	Testament
Clockwork Angels	Rush
Ghost Walking	Lamb of God
New Romantic	Zico Chain
The Power Of Positive Drinking	The Trews
The Axe	GOJIRA
Evolve/Become	Sacred Mother Tongue
Gaza	Marillion
On The 13th Day	Magnum
The Moneychangers	Corrosion Of Conformity
Bag Of Bones	Europe
No Place Like Home	Primal Rock Rebellion
Cloak of Feathers	The Sword
The River	Sylosis
Fight Night	UFO
Revenge …Best Served Cold	Prong
Honesty In Death	Paradise Lost
Levitation	Down
Take My Bones Away	Baroness
The Filthy And The Few	Orange Goblin

STEREOPHONICS @Birmingham Academy 19/12/12

It was just before the turn of the millennium. Stereophonics were cover stars – having just crossed over to the mainstream with “Performance and Cocktails”. And RTM was with a couple of mates watching a band called The Crocketts play The Flapper in Birmingham.

We had first seen the Crocketts about eight months before when they opened for Stereophonics at the Wolves Civic Hall, and had become firm fans. It was a Christmas show and there – at the bar – was Kelly Jones. The Stereophonics frontman had just finished a UK tour, in arenas. I had seen the NEC show and it lacked the brilliance of the of the Wolverhampton spring affair. Jones spent the evening, chatting, he was friendly and happy, it seemed, to be at a gig. He later got up on stage to perform with his friends (from memory a cover of “My Girl” but let me off it was nearly 13 years ago) and it was a great night.

I tell this story for two reasons. First, because that was the last time we saw the Stereophonics in any guise. Them having drifted off into ever more bland and indie areas and me staying with rock and metal, and second because it proves that Jones had absolutely none of the “rock star” about him. It is this attitude, you suspect, that means that, for this tour they choose to do much smaller venues. Lets be honest, if they wanted to they could be at the NIA up the road if they wanted. The fact that they are in a 1400 capacity place like the Academy speaks volumes for their ethos.

It was this that led me to buy a ticket. Here was a chance to watch a band we used to like in the habitat we used to watch them in. And given that they start with “Bartender And The Thief “ the lead single from “…Cocktails” it truly is like being transported back to my mid-twenties. This is followed by “A Thousand Trees” from their quite marvelous debut record and it is remarkable how quickly I am remembering these songs.

This is not a greatest hits set though.  This pre Christmas jaunt is to try out tracks from a forthcoming record and also to break in new drummer Jamie Morrison. The latter is, in our opinion much more successful than the former. Morrison is good. Two of the new tunes not so, given that they are occupying the same middle of the road territory that much of their later output has. In fact, the inclusion of “Mr Writer” halfway through the set is rather apt, given that song is the exact moment when I stopped loving the band. It remains to this day, dull and whiny.

What you can’t do is argue with trio of classics that the band end the main set with. “More Life In A Tramps Vest,” “Just Looking” and “Local Boy In The Photograph” are just fabulous. As, to be fair, is the encore. The third new track “Violins and Tambourines” is a slow-burning epic that echoes Marillion and “Traffic” is a piece of quirky brilliance.”

It is last song, “Dakota” though, that really sums up the night neatly. It is a decent song, yes. But not to these ears anywhere near what was on the first couple of records. The crowd, however, goes ballistic. And good luck to them. All this shows to RTM though, is that The ‘Phonics aren’t our band anymore. They became global when we weren’t looking, while we were still at The Flapper looking for excitement.

A good gig, but one which will be gig of the year to most the audience, even if not to me.

STATUS QUO @LG ARENA, Birmingham 17/12/12

Whilst we know that Status Quo are one of the great institutions of UK music. Every Christmas they embark on this trek around the country and everyone who has seen it says how excellent it is.  RTM has previously been skeptical and has avoided such things. However, this year we caved in and decided to go and see what the fuss was about.

Where we do draw the line, though, is in watching Bonnie Tyler, who is the chief support for this evening. Frustratingly this means we miss Eddie And The Hot Rods too, but some things are a price worth paying.

When we do enter the arena, we find the dynamics of the crowd quite interesting. And happily we are far from out of place clad in a Thin Lizzy t-shirt. There are some people who seem to be waiting for the local Am Dram Society to murder some pantomime, but mostly it is music fans that know their way around a Marshall stack that greet us.

If that means portents are good, any lingering doubts are swept away just about the second that the opening riff to “Caroline” starts up. Immediately it becomes clear that what Quo are providing is a boogie rock masterclass, that is part Chas and Dave and part Thunder. Francis Rossi exudes cheeky chappy charm, Rick Parfitt shooting the crowd with his guitar a la Steve Harris, while both are backed superbly by bass man John Edwards, keyboard player Andy Brown – who also appears on guitar – and drummer Matt Letley, on his last tour with the group.

As you would expect the hits are here and all present and correct, but there is more than a smattering of tunes to keep the people who don’t think a gig is just a jukebox happy. There is a medley with a different take on some of their songs and an outing for “Rock N Roll And You” from last years “Quid Pro Quo” album – which largely convinced us to check the band out in the first place – which proves that they have much to offer still.

Indeed, the real massive hits are saved for the end of a captivating hour and three quarters. There can be no one who has ever heard music who doesn’t know “Down Down,” “Whatever You Want” and “Rockin’ All Over The World.” This triumvirate would have been a suitable – and stunning – way to finish this off. As it is we get a Christmas medley and “Burning Bridges” by way of closure. And yes, I know its festive but that doesn’t make a Christmas medley any better.

There is one other quibble. “Margarita Time” is just awful. It is as awful now as when we first heard it all those years ago, but that doesn’t detract from the inescapable fact that this was just about the most fun you could have possibly had and will appear in the best gigs of the year list.

Tonight was the night we finally got the appeal of the Quo.

STONE SOUR @Wolverhampton Civic Hall 14/12/12

It scarcely seemed possible that when Corey Taylor got together with some old bandmates and reformed his first band Stone Sour in some Slipknot downtime, they would still be here 10 years and four albums later and selling out venues like the Wolves Civic to boot.

However, that is the situation they find themselves in. And when the houselights go down to herald “Gone Sovereign” and the beginning of the show there is near delirium amongst the gathered throng.

That track – and indeed five more that are played tonight – are from the new “House of Gold and Bones PT1” record. The second part is due next year. Part one is a stellar affair, and if it doesn’t quite hit the heights of album number two “Come What Ever May” it is a massive improvement on 2010’s patchy “Audio Secrecy.”

Sour enter the stage with the band dressed in black, and the other members (still including Slipknot’s James Root amongst their ranks) are content to let Taylor hog the limelight. It is a role he accomplishes with aplomb. Although, new bass man Johnny Chow has a beard that might just eclipse the vocalist on its own.

The setlist is a 90 minute long storm through their best moments. “Hell And Consequences”  from “……May” is a showstopper, while the delve back to the debut album for “Blotter” is rapturously received. It is “Absolute Zero” that perhaps showcases their talents best. Sitting on the new album, it is a stone (sour) cold classic of a track. An effortless riff and chorus is driven on the back of Josh Rand’s guitar crunch and is casually tossed out early on.

A four song encore (also including a snippet of Alice In Chains “Nutshell”) sees Taylor play a solo “Bother”, which the crowd sings for him, before he is joined by the others for “Through Glass” and “Digital (Did You Tell)” which he dedicates to a generation that “needs to unplug and live their lives” before “3030150” draws us to a superb close.

When they toured with Avenged Sevenfold a couple of years ago in arenas, Stone Sour were largely upstaged by a band who had an arena show. Sour don’t and looked a little forlorn having to follow AX7s histrionics. Not here. They are the perfect band for these shows.

They have done this on the back of the quality of the songs they have. Taylor’s mega status as the singer in one of metal’s biggest bands might have got Stone Sour noticed in the first place, but it is the fact they are damn good that keeps the public coming back.

Stone Sour were quite brilliant tonight

THIN LIZZY, Fm, The Treatment @Rock City 9/12/12

We had The Treatment marked down for big things when we first saw them nearly two years ago, stick as they were at the bottom of a free gig in Nuneaton. Happily – and unusually given our past tipping record includes seeing a then unknown band called Muse open for Feeder and not only saying “no one will ever like these” but also tipping the other support band Straw as ones to watch – we seem to have been right.

A summer of touring with Kiss and Motley Crue has done them no harm at all, and given them a profile stateside, but moreover it has given them quite a confidence. They are making headway in this country too, and Rock City is packed for a performance that not even the loss of bass halfway through can spoil. The Treatment have good songs “The Doctor” chief amongst them, which they combine with a willingness to meet the public (they are stood by the exit shaking hands with nearly everyone at the end) and what they lack in originality they make up for in effort. They might just break through in 2013.

If they are looking for role models they could do a lot worse than look at FM. The kings of 80s AOR have been riding the crest of a wave since their return a few years ago. Full length reformation album “Metropolis” was a fine affair, while this years “Only Foolin’” EP contains a title track so good it would make even Thunder weep.

That they also back it up with “Don’t Stop” and “Over You” with its Bon Jovi-esque hook, before rounding the whole thing off with a version of “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” that sounds like they wrote it, only re-enforces the thought that FM are very, very good indeed.

As, of course, are Thin Lizzy. The band have been one of our favorites since we were in short trousers and scored third place in the gigs of 2011 for a quite stunning affair. They did it all again this January too, so much so we came back for a third go.  This apparently is the final time on stage for this incarnation. A brand new album is to come out under a different name next year.

For now though, we must just enjoy them while we can. The secret to what makes Lizzy so good, is that there is no secret at all. Just a collection of some of the finest songs ever written. The setlist, broadly speaking, is the same as they have trawled around with for a couple of years. But somehow, although you have seen it before, right from the time “Are You Ready” kicks things off to the time 90 minutes later when “Black Rose (Rosin Dubh)” ends it, it is quite simply the best hard rocking party you could wish to see.

Then there is Lizzy’s diversity. The metal of “Massacre” mixes so effortlessly with the rock n roll of “Dancing In The Moonlight” while “Killer On The Lose” is full of menace and swagger and “Jailbreak” is simply an anthem.

If anyone doubts the fact Lizzy are perhaps the finest band of their type in the world, any group that can better “Cowboy Song” and “The Boys Are Back In Town” and then follow that up with “Rosalie” and the aforementioned “….Rose” can send me their album.

As ever Scott Gorham takes a backseat and allows Ricky Warwick to give a phenomenal performance as frontman and if this is to be the last time that Lizzy perform these songs then, dammit, they went out on a high.